PROFESSIONAL CONGRESS
This activity is exclusive to professionals in the sector.
Attendance requires prior registration.
12th and 13th November 2026 · Fabra i Coats
Now in its third edition, the DAU Professional Congress continues to establish itself as a space for meeting, reflection, and connection for the various stakeholders involved in board gaming, with the aim of supporting the sector’s growth and professionalization and reinforcing its recognition as a cultural industry.
The 2026 edition features a program structured around three pillars—Academy, Talent, and Industry—addressing strategic areas for the sector’s development: knowledge generation and transfer, the integration of new professional talent, and the connection and projection of the local industry at both the national and international levels.
This year, the Professional Congress will take place on Thursday, November 12, and Friday, November 13.
Program
Academy
Researching Games
Games are also a subject of research.
The Academia stream connects universities, researchers, and the professional sector to showcase the knowledge generated around games and explore how this knowledge can reach society and the industry.
Researching Play: Knowledge, Impact, and Transfer
A conversation about the multiple disciplines from which games are studied and the opportunities to create more connections between research, society, and industry.
Pitch Lab · Research in Play
Selected research projects will present their lines of work to a multidisciplinary panel. This is a space designed not only to give visibility to the research but also to foster connections, identify applications, and open up new opportunities for collaboration.
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN WE PLAY? Board games through the lens of psychology and research
An expert yet accessible perspective that delves into the power of games to impact individuals, culture, and society.
TALENT
Turning Gaming into a Career
How many people and professions are involved in a game before it reaches the table?
The Talent initiative connects the industry with students and emerging professionals from creative disciplines, revealing how the sector truly operates, the profiles it requires, the skills it seeks, and the pathways available for launching a career within it.
The Editorial Perspective · What talent does the industry need?
A conversation with representatives from various publishing backgrounds to explore the game development process, discover the professionals involved at each stage, understand how publishers work with creative talent, and learn what they look for when selecting collaborators.
The Editorial Perspective · What talent does the industry need?
A conversation with representatives from various publishing backgrounds to explore the game development process, discover the professionals involved at each stage, understand how publishers work with creative talent, and learn what they look for when selecting collaborators.
INDUSTRY
Markets, audiences, and new opportunities
The Industry strand focuses on the sector’s business challenges and opportunities, its connection to other cultural industries, and expansion into new markets.
Specialized content, real-world cases, data, and an international perspective to understand some of the transformations redefining the gaming industry.
What do we know about the player? · Data, audiences, and decisions
DAU will present the initial results of the new study on the board game sector and audiences, conducted in collaboration with Atrevia.
An analysis that will examine the industry, audiences, and gaming habits across various settings and contexts, providing new data to help understand who plays, how and where they play, and how the sector is evolving.
A new knowledge tool to bring data to areas where, all too often, we have relied on perceptions.
From the screen to the table · IP and licensing in the table game
What happens when an audiovisual universe, a brand, or a piece of content turns into a game?
A practical approach to licensing from both perspectives: what the IP owner seeks, and what a publisher needs to transform it into a product with its own distinct identity—one capable of reaching new audiences and markets.
Europe looks to Asia
An international look at one of the world’s most unique gaming ecosystems.
What can we learn from the Japanese market? How does it work? What trends are emerging there? And what opportunities for connection might exist between the European and Asian markets?
Pitch Lab · DAU Academia
Open call
The Pitch Lab is the space within the DAU Barcelona Professional Congress dedicated to young Master’s and PhD researchers working in the field of board games.
Coordinated by PhD Belén Moreno Garrido , it offers participants the opportunity to present research projects, receive specialised feedback and connect with the academic and professional community. Participation is available in person or online.
Proposals must be submitted as a single PDF document of no more than 10 pages and will be assessed according to their scientific quality, relevance to board games, potential impact and ability to communicate research effectively.
Submission deadline: October 3, 2026
Notification of results: October 19, 2026